...... . . researchers from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine have . . . found a strong link between the number of patient complaints filed against doctors and the number of “risk management events” doctors were involved in. . . .
.....The researchers found that less than 10 percent of the physicians generated more than half the complaints, while 37 percent had no complaints lodged against them. Of the 135 events that resulted in malpractice claims, only 8 percent of the group accounted for nearly half the lawsuits. . . .
.....In a previous study of 125 mothers (or other family members) who filed suits over childbirth injuries, the researchers found that many of them cited dissatisfaction with physician-patient communication when asked what had prompted them to initiate claims. Nearly half of these women felt their doctors had misled them—or had not been completely honest—about what happened. Nearly a third said their doctors had not talked enough with them, or answered their questions adequately. Thirteen percent said their doctors didn’t listen to them.
.....In a subsequent study of nearly 900 maternity patients, a Vanderbilt team found that obstetricians who had the most lawsuits were more likely to be named in patient complaints elicited in a survey. Among the complaints: They didn’t listen, didn’t return phone calls, didn’t show concern or respect, or were rude. . . .
.....Boston plaintiffs’ attorney Alice Burkin has been representing injured patients for nearly 20 years. Over that time, it’s become obvious to her that while many doctors make mistakes, only some get sued. “The most important factor in many cases—besides the injury itself—is the quality of the patient’s relationship with the doctor,” says Burkin. “People just don’t sue doctors they really like. We’ve had people come in saying they want to sue some specialist, and we’ll say, ‘We don’t think that doctor was negligent. We think it’s your primary care doctor who’s at fault.’ And the client will say, ‘I don’t care what she did. I love her, and I’m not suing her.’
..... “On the other hand, I once had a breast cancer patient who wanted to sue her internist for delayed diagnosis, even though we felt the radiologist was clearly at fault,” Burkin recounts. “But this patient had been going to the internist for five years, and in all that time, he’d never taken time to really talk to her. ‘He never looked at me as a whole person,’ the patient told me.
..... “All of our clients have had bad medical results,” Burkin adds. “But when a patient has a bad result, the doctor has to take the time to explain what happened, and to answer the patient’s questions—to treat him as a human being. The ones who don’t are the ones who get sued.” . . .

This article could probably go on to say, if the subject wasn’t malpractice suits, that this group of physicians also have the highest amount of patient attrition over time. I would bet that the same study, applied to professional and services industries, would yield exactly the same result.

Let’s flip it around on the lawyers for a second. The highly talented yet supercilious attorney is much more likely to lose clients—or worse—than the lawyer whose skills are satisfactory, yet masters the ability to emphasize with their clients.

It’s true for investment advisors, painters, bankers, and interior decorators, too.